I thought I had reached a good point in the story for an interlude. ^^ Sorry for the shortness, but I'll try to have another chapter up soon!
The stars were sprinkled coldly overhead as Swampfoot treaded on sandy ground. The dark brown tom kept his pace steady, making sure that he kept a few tail-lengths from the lakeshore. The WindClan wind rustled his brown fur gently, and the moon was almost directly ahead, a perfect half-circle. He paused to glance at it for a moment, before continuing, a prick of fear beginning in the depths of his mind. What will happen? He kept on thinking, what will they say?
Suddenly, a rustle in the undergrowth interrupted his thoughts. Swampfoot turned to see a sleek black cat emerge from the gorse, and the RiverClan cat recognized him immediately. He dipped his head respectfully. "Greetings, Stargazer" He meowed.
The black cat returned the gesture. "Greetings, Swampfoot," he replied, coming up beside the brown tom. His green eyes flashed in the moonlight. "Where is Moonfeather?"
"Cloverfur was bitten by a rat over by ShadowClan." He answered, "And it's starting to get infected. She stayed behind to keep an eye on her."
"Ah." Stargazer's grin was barely visible in the dark, "And how is the rest of your clan this moon?"
Swampfoot smiled, but he silently reminded himself to keep quiet about certain things. "Well." He answered, continuing to pad forward, "We have two new warriors."
Stargazer kept in pace with the tom, laughing a little. "And how are they liking their new warrior duties?"
"It's hard to tell." He glanced at the other cat, "And your clan?"
"We have three new additions to WindClan," he purred, "The birth went smoothly, and the kits, and the mother are all well."
"Kits are always a wonderful addition," He agreed.
They fell into silence for a while, until they reached the border of ThunderClan, and the two toms turned to pad up the hill. Swampfoot's ears were pricked as he scanned the slope in front of them. "I wonder where Shadewing and Thrushflight are this evening." He wondered aloud.
"I'm right here!" Came a voice up the slope. The moon faintly revealed a she-cat climbing down to join them. She shuffled down, watching so to not to trip. The white marks on her pelt seemed to glow as she came up to them.
"Finally," she breathed, "I've been waiting for you two."
"It's not even moon-high yet, Thrushflight." Swampfoot replied, "You didn't have to come so early."
"Shadewing's not with you?" Stargazer continued, glancing behind the ThunderClan medicine cat.
Thrushflight's eyes suddenly were lined with sorrow. She averted her gaze from the other cats, before replying, "It's best we wait for Shadowpaw instead."
"Why?"
She hesitated before continuing. "Shadewing… well, he's dead."
"What?" Stargazer asked, clearly astonished.
"What happened?"
The she-cat didn't have a chance to reply before they heard the sounds of Shadowpaw tripping up the slope. All medicine cats fell silent as she approached.
Upon reaching them, she glared. "What do you want?"
Swampfoot stepped forward, resting a tail-tip on her shoulder. "Shadowpaw, what happened?" he asked quietly.
"Nothing, ok?" she snapped, pulling away from his grasp and trudging higher up the slope. "Now come on, let's get this over with."
Swampfoot glanced bewildered at Thrushflight, who only shook her head sadly, before getting to her paws as well. "She's right. We better get going. It's almost moon-high."
The RiverClan medicine cat sighed. This night wasn't going as he had hoped for.
Little did he know that he had no idea.